cobre

See also: cobré

Asturian

Etymology

From Late Latin cuprum (“copper”), from Latin cyprium (aes) (“Cypriot copper”), because Cyprus was its chief source.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkobɾe/, [ˈko.β̞ɾe]
• Rhymes: -obɾe
• Hyphenation: co‧bre

Noun

cobre m (uncountable)

1. copper

Galician

Etymology 1

Attested since the 13th century. From Old Galician-Portuguese, from Late Latin cuprum (“copper”), from Latin (aes) Cyprium (“Cypriot copper” because Cyprus was its chief source), from Ancient Greek Κύπρος (Kúpros), from κυπάρισσος (kupárissos, “cypress”), probably from an unknown Mediterranean Pre-Greek language; compare Hebrew גפר (gopher), the name of the tree whose wood was used to make the ark (Genesis, 6:14).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔβɾe̝/

Noun

cobre m (uncountable)

1. copper
   • 1281, Clarinda de Azevedo Maia (ed.), História do galego-português. Estado linguístico da Galiza e do Noroeste de Portugal do século XII ao século XVI (com referência á situação do galego moderno). Coimbra: I.N.I.C., page 133:

     Dou a mia arameña τ o morteyro de cobre a Santa Maria de Monte de Ramo para a capella.

     I bequeath my bowl and the copper mortar to St. Mary of Montederramo, for the chapel

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “cobre”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “cobre”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “cobre”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “cobre”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “cobre”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Etymology 2

Verb

cobre

1. inflection of cobrar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative
2. third-person singular present indicative of cubrir
3. (reintegrationist norm) inflection of cobrir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Portuguese

Chemical element
Cu
Previous: níquel (Ni)
Next: zinco (Zn)

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.bɾi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.bɾi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.bɾe/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.bɾɨ/ [ˈkɔ.βɾɨ]

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -ɔbɾi, (Portugal) -ɔbɾɨ
• Hyphenation: co‧bre

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese, from Late Latin cuprum (“copper”), from Latin cyprium (aes) (“Cypriot copper”), from Ancient Greek Κύπρος (Kúpros), because Cyprus was its chief source.

Noun

cobre m (plural cobres)

1. copper (reddish-brown, malleable metal)
2. (chemistry) copper
3. (colloquial) a small amount of money; little change

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

cobre

1. inflection of cobrir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

cobre

1. inflection of cobrar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Chemical element
Cu
Previous: níquel (Ni)
Next: cinc (Zn)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkobɾe/ [ˈko.β̞ɾe]
• Rhymes: -obɾe
• Syllabification: co‧bre

Etymology 1

Inherited from Late Latin cuprum (“copper”), from Latin cyprium (aes) (“Cypriot copper”), from Ancient Greek Κύπρος (Kúpros), because Cyprus was its chief source. The irregular evolution of this term in Spanish and other Ibero-Romance languages like Portuguese cobre (with the expected result being *cobro) has been suggested to perhaps be due to some influence from Catalan coure, although this is uncertain because of the discrepancy between the internal consonants and the unusual idea of just altering the final consonants due to foreign influence. More likely, it may have been informally influenced by alambre (older arambre), originally meaning bronze in Old Spanish.

Noun

cobre m (uncountable)

1. copper (reddish-brown, malleable, ductile metallic element with high electrical and thermal conductivity, symbol Cu, and atomic number 29)

Derived terms

• batir el cobre
• batirse el cobre
• cobrizo
• Edad del Cobre
• siglo de cobre

 

Descendants

• → Ladino: kovre

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

cobre

1. inflection of cobrar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “cobre”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy, 2023 November 28